Forever Wild, Forever Home: The Story of The Wild Animal Sanctuary of Colorado

by Melanie Shellenbarger, Mark Shellenbarger

A story that has never been told about a place like nowhere else. Forever Wild, Forever Home celebrates the forty-year anniversary of The Wild Animal Sanctuary, home to more than 600 rescued exotic animals, including over 200 bears, 60 African lions, 100 tigers, and hundreds of other large and small carnivores who thrive amidst the freedom and peace of Western prairie grasslands and stunning canyonlands. In 1980, Sanctuary founder Pat Craig saved a dying baby jaguar he christened Freckles and embarked on a life-changing journey to combat the growing crisis of exotic animal captivity, abuse, and trafficking - one rescue at a time. Since then, the Sanctuary has saved more than 1,000 wild animals from backyard cages, illicit big cat breeding and cub petting outfits, and seedy private zoos around the world - including 127 from "Tiger King" Joe Exotic's notorious Oklahoma zoo that was the focus of a number one hit on Netflix. Forever Wild, Forever Home highlights the Sanctuary's bold rescues and groundbreaking rehabilitation programs, as well as the elevated (and Guinness world-record-holding) Mile into the Wild Walkway, which gives more than 200,000 annual visitors a sky-high view of these magnificent survivors in their enormous habitats. Both heartwarming and humorous, this well-researched and timely book with over 100 color photos honors the nobility of the wild animals who call the Sanctuary their "forever home," and the heroic and gratifying labors of those who care for them.

Genres: Nonfiction

232 pages, Hardcover

Published November 16, 2020

Reviews

[Dennis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This excellent book tells the story of the Wild Animal Sanctuary near Keenesburg, east of Fort Lupton. I love this place. We started going right after it opened to the public and became hooked. Seeing these beautiful creatures running and playing and just being themselves after the horrors all of them went through in their prior lives is a great thing to see and easily makes me reach for a tissue. This book describes how the Sanctuary came to be and how it operates from nutrition to dentistry to building the walkway to building the underground dens to you-name-it. The rehabilitation work done here is nothing short of amazing and they manage to help everyone who comes to them. My wife knows better than to get me started on this place I will not shut up so I'm going to now. I am highly recommending this book to everyone who has a heart and also recommending that you visit their website (wildanimalsanctuary.org) and read some rescue stories or watch a video or two. Best of all if you live nearby please consider planning a trip to visit the Sanctuary. You will not forget it!

[David Glicksman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book, terrific place, amazing animals.

Ive had the great pleasure of visiting the Wildlife Sanctuary a few times since my brother lives in Colorado. So when I saw this book, I pounced on it. And it did not disappoint. It was entertaining and educational. It made me want to visit again, and it reminded me that we need to continue to make progress improvements.

[Padma Krishnan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a supporter of the Sanctuary and have visited a few times. I can vouch for the passion of the volunteers and the work done to help these abused animals. I knew a lot of the info in the book already but learnt about the history of how this came about organically, including the walkway. Reading the book and visiting made me connect some dots as to why there is a LionHouse right dab in the middle. Already knew how Pat Craig and the organization work on helping provide these abused animals a forever home. It is heartwarming to see the animals. Reading the book connected me to these. However the writing could be better and bit succint. The writer mentions the same things over and over again. Neverthless - for people who care about wildlife, abused animals and want to know more about the sanctuary and the work that is done, it is a good easy read. The theme of the book and the awareness to the wildlife trafficking and abused animals cause is what made me give 4 stars and not the writing.

[Leila Kern · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this story of the Wild Animal Sanctuary in Keenesburg, Colorado! The book relates the history of the sanctuary and how the sanctuary began. The dedication of Pat Craig and the rest of the management is beyond commendable. The sanctuary is built for the comfort of the rescued animals and not the public; I love that aspect. So much great information! And well worth the happiness of the formerly caged animals who cannot be released into the wild for one reason or another. Such caring dedicated people! Well worth reading this book especially if you are an animal lover!

[Mel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having visited the wild animal sanctuary, I was really looking forward to this book! However it wasn’t really what I hoped it would be. You can tell the authors aren’t writers, and some of the book seemed to be more “book report” rather than intriguing storytelling.
I did love the stories of the animal rescues. There was also lots of interesting tidbits.

[Sandy L. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a must read for all humanity. The writing is well done, very engaging. This is a worldwide issue that many people try to ignore, but ignoring it continues the abuse and suffering of captive, big cats, bears, and other animals used solely to make money. These animals do not belong in private ownership nor should they be bred.

[Angela]

A gift from my mom for Christmas.